Tick sound in joists

Hello, I posted this in another section. Was not sure what would work best for placement.

I have a problem. And I am seeking help from anyone who could help. My house was built in 2002. With the basement unfinished. I have recently finished my basement however, now that it is finished, in my basement every time the A/C or Heat comes on the joist starts to make a crack, tick sound or pop sound every second. (not sure how to describe the sound). After it shuts off the sound starts to go away slowly. It is only coming from one spot in the ceiling. It's by the main HVAC duct work that I ran off from to supply the a/c or heat to part's of the basement. The sound come after I put up the sheet rock, not before. I have ( not sure what you call it) a pipe running from the main HVAC to my vents that the air comes out from. I think its that pipe that is heating up or cooling that is making my joist tick. I was thinking about cutting a hole in my ceiling and putting in some isolation to keep the heat or cold from reaching the joist.
Any help would be much appreciated on what you think I could do to solve this problem. Thank you.....

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Sounds like expansion/contraction of sheet metal. I had similar situation years ago and it really bothered me. So I did what you said, I cut a hole in sheet rock, made a repair and closed up again. Fine for many years.

Put your ear to sheet rock or better yet, use a stethiscope to really pinpoint the spot. Open as small a section as possible and listen to noise with unit running. In my case, I used a small piece of cloth, like a washcloth and wedged it into spot where noise was. Don't close up until you're sure you fixed it. If you can silicone 2 wood strips to backside of sheet rock, where the hole is, and let it set up overnight, the piece you carefully removed and marked 'top' should go right back where it came from. Then repair with compound and you probably won't need tape.

If the sheet metal was leaning directly against the sheet rock, you may have to open a larger section and adjust sheet metal or hangers.

Reply.

Thanks for the help. The sound will go away for a cycle or two if I push up on the ceiling where the noise comes from but than will come back later. I will have to pin point the correct spot and make a hole. Thanks for the advice.